In the Beginning...Was the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson

This is one of my "stretch" books in science/math--you know, not an English teacher-y book. Every once in awhile I like to dabble in an elegant universe, take a walk with Stephen Hawking, try my hand at a few differential equations--but not usually. Just every once in awhile. So this was on the summer senior reading list, and I just grabbed it at the library impulsively.

I read 45 pages. That was enough.

The writing is perfectly adequate; the author has a pleasing vocabulary. But after awhile, the essays all seemed to be about the same. They're mostly about Mac vs. PC. I followed most of the jargon--I know what GUIs are, I've programmed in basic (my kid brother and I used to spend hours typing in lines of code at the DOS prompt on our ancient IBM computer so that a red flashing light would blink across the screen for half a second, dazzling us with our own brilliance), and I kind of understand what OSs do; so I thought, "hey, I can read this book, and maybe even learn a little bit more about computer-geek culture." But it just reaffirmed what I already knew--there's a reason why I'm not a computer geek, and that's because a) it's not that fun; and b) the writers aren't as gritty.

Sorry, knowledgeable author-man. I'm sure this book is really interesting to some people (specifically, those people who got really excited when Windows NT came out, for example). And I liked reading about the old punch-card computer systems, and it also made me realize there are valid points for preferring Macs to PCs or vice-versa (still don't understand that Linux/Unix think sufficiently, though).

But honestly? I'd rather be reading Dickens.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

I've almost put this book down several times; it's one of those modern, ultra-referential tomes that features too many clauses in just about every sentence. Variety I can handle; but sentence-packing consistently makes me feel too conscious about what I'm reading. Plus it's too aware of itself and of its being written; I wonder if that makes it something called a "self-conscious text"? I think it might be. I like this book best not when I'm reading it, but rather when I think about the story afterward. So I look forward to finding out what happens, but sort of dread it a bit also, and dreading my current reading book sometimes (not always) makes me want to drop it. Before I do, here's some things I'll consider.

Why I Want to Keep Reading:
I'm intrigued by main character Blue and her not-sociopathic father, Gareth.
I like the parenthetical references to other books. Makes me want to add to already-too-long reading list.

Why I Don't Want to Keep Reading:
I flipped ahead about two hundred pages and read one paragraph and didn't understand a word. It's like a different book. Daunting.
Paraenthetical references to other books make me feel overwhelmed, like when Rory freaked out about all the books in the Harvard library (Gilmore Girls reference; sorry).
Too many butterflies.
The twelve books overdue from the library that are piled enticingly on my nightstand...